conversational

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Arm wrestling to change someone's mind.

Back in the 1980s, I worked for an ad agency where we did a lot of work with pharmaceutical companies.

A significant part of our clients’ budgets went into the creation of the print materials their salespeople used when visiting doctors.

And the key focus of those materials was on how to overcome objections. Overcoming objections was core to the way these salespeople were trained. Identify the objections… take out the relevant products sheets or brochure… and then use that information to change the doctor’s mind.

The approach was essentially adversarial. The salespeople had to “overcome” objections. They had to fight for the sale. They had to close the sale.

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Mirroring in conversations

A while back I was chatting with someone on the Conversational Copywriting Facebook group page.

At one point she wrote, “Good, thank you. I really do need more help with headline writing”.

She’s hoping I’ll create another lecture for the course, focused just on writing headlines. I probably will.

But let’s imagine instead that I decide to create a new course on writing headlines, and I want to sell the course to her.

What should my headline be?

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Group of freinds

You can’t hold a good conversation without speaking the same language.

And I’m not talking about trying to have a conversation with someone who speaks a foreign language.

I’m talking about striking up a conversation with someone – or a group of people – without knowing the vocabulary of that particular audience.

Imagine you’re a doctor attending a conference, but walk into the wrong meeting room and find yourself sitting down with a group of aeronautical engineers. Well, you might as well be listening to people speaking a foreign language.

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Conversational with real people

There’s something happening in the world of online copywriting.

I’m seeing more and more companies push the boundaries when it comes to honesty and transparency in marketing.

And I know many copywriters – some very experienced, and others just starting out – who feel very uncomfortable with being asked to mislead their readers with half-truths.

What’s happening here? Are we suddenly becoming more and more dishonest?

I don’t think so. But I do believe copywriters are finding themselves put on the spot by the rise of automation and analytics.

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Does it make a difference whether companies are liked or disliked, loved or loathed?

Intuitively, I think we all know the answer to that.

Yes, we are more likely to buy from a business if we like it. And less likely if we don’t.

If you’re a copywriter you already know that people’s buying decisions are heavily influenced by their emotions. People buy with their hearts, not with their brains.

There is also plenty of objective data to support the claim that emotions do the heavy lifting when driving sales.

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Differentiate yourself as a conversational copywriter

Hundreds of copywriters have now completed the conversational copywriting course.

And now I’m seeing how some of these writers are repositioning themselves as conversational copywriters.

Smart move.

This is a powerful way to set yourself apart from the crowd.

There are tens of thousands of competing freelance copywriters out there, all of them looking for work, all making much the same claims.

When you stand up, raise a hand and explicitly tell the world you’re a conversational copywriter, that sets you apart and shines a spotlight on your message.

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